Need for Professional Development
A report on BYOD implementation in three US districts (Stutsman, 2013, p. 36) found that BYOD implementation cannot be successful without the teachers and instruction being ready for it. A BYOD program could save money if implemented properly, but tossing teachers into a BYOD environment without any training wouldn’t be very effective (Chadband, 2012). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation study (2012) indicated that, 48% of the participating teachers reported the lack of training is the biggest barrier to incorporating technology into their teaching (p. 3). According to DeWitt (2013), though many teachers want to allow students to bring their own devices, they do not always understand how to handle the concept. Research carried out in Switzerland and Quebec (Akkari & Heer, 2006; Karsenti & Larose, 2005) found that young teachers, although better trained in the use of technology, tend to use this less to innovate in the classroom than more experienced teachers (young teachers being too busy with classroom management issues).
Thus it can be seen that simple availability of technology resources does not guarantee success in BYOD implementation. The teachers need to be BYOD-ready in terms of both integrating technology in the classroom and choosing the right learning practices. At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure that the teachers do not go overboard with technology.
Questions to Assess Technology Readiness
Please reflect on the following questions to estimate your own comfort with the idea of BYOD, your readiness with regards to both technology, and learning frameworks to implement BYOD. This would help you get the best out of the resources and ideas illustrated further in this tutorial.
What do you use technology for?
In which of the following areas do you need support?
- Use of hardware devices
- Selecting hardware devices
- Use/Information about software tools available
- Embedding technology into the teaching and learning of the curriculum
- Taking advantage of the device that students bring to your classroom in terms of the curriculum and impacting the teaching and learning experience.
_
_
_
_
_
_